Issue Watch
Track global public opinion on current issues.
- 2008: Race for the White House
- 2008: The U.S. Electoral College
- Abortion
- Africa
- Angela Merkel
- Death Penalty
- Economy and Globalization
- Environment
- European Union
- George W. Bush
- Global Warming
- Gordon Brown
- Hamas
- Immigration
- Iran
- Iraq War
- Kevin Rudd
- Latin America
- New Zealand Election 2008
- Nicolas Sarkozy
- North Korea
- Oil and Gas
- Same-Sex Marriage
- Silvio Berlusconi
- Stem Cell Research
- Stephen Harper
- Terrorism
- U.S. Election 2008 - The Democrats
- U.S. Election 2008 - The Republicans
- U.S. Election 2008: The Primaries
- Vladimir Putin
- Yasuo Fukuda
Angus Reid Global Monitor : Polls & Research
Karamanlis Best to Govern, Say Greeks
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Many people in Greece believe their incumbent prime minister is better suited to govern the country than the leader of the opposition, according to a poll by VPRC released by SKAI Radio. 49 per cent of respondents think Kostas Karamanlis is the most qualified person to head the government.
Karamanlis led the conservative New Democracy (ND) to a victory in the March 2004 election, securing 165 seats in the Greek Parliament. The Pan-Hellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) had administered the government since January 1996. 24 per cent of respondents would prefer to have current PASOK leader George Papandreou—a former foreign minister—as head of government.
On Mar. 20, finance minister George Alogoskoufis promised to implement tougher investment restrictions after some irregularities were discovered in a supplementary pension fund for civil servants, saying, "Recognizing the weaknesses in the investment guidelines, the government has wanted for some time to proceed with changes in those guidelines. The recent developments, however, have shown the problems are deeper and demand more immediate solutions."
On Mar. 29, Papandreou called on the country's youth to deliver change in the next election, saying, "The new generation is ahead again and is putting an end to the right-wing parenthesis, the black three-year period of right-wing governance. (...) This government is responsible for the looting of the funds and the seizure of the toils of your parents."
Polling Data
Who is the most qualified person to govern Greece?
Apr. 2007 | Feb. 2007 | |
Kostas Karamanlis (ND) | 49% | 51% |
George Papandreou (PASOK) | 24% | 30% |
Neither / Other | 27% | 19% |
Source: VPRC / SKAI Radio
Methodology: Interviews with 950 Greek adults, conducted from Apr. 9 to Apr. 11, 2007. No margin of error was provided.